Bobby J's

Bobby J’s said fishing in the region is “steady as she goes,” with the best bites being for striped bass and scup. While the bluefish in the area commanded quite a bit of attention for the tournament last week most regulars in the shop were back focused on bassing. The striper fishing is good, mostly unchanged with maybe a few more opportunities for topwater as the days start to get shorter. With that said, the best bite is still with live or plastic eels has been the ticket to tangling with bass in the 30-pound plus class. There is some topwater action as well at first light. Bluefish reports quieted down but there are still some big blues around. Fluke fishing seemed to tick up this week with a few more customers reporting keeper sized flatfish. They are catching them anywhere from 12- to 40-feet of water, but lately it seems the bigger fish are coming from the shallower end of that range. Scup fishing has been good for both boat and shore anglers though those fishing from the rocks seem to be catching the biggest porgies. There are short sea bass mixed in with the scup but coming by a keeper sized fish has been a chore. There are some snapper blues starting to show in the estuaries, harbors and bays though they are still very small. Blue crabs are being caught as well in the estuaries and scooped from pilings in the harbors. The shop is open six days a week closed Mondays.

Bobby J’s said the shop was humming over the weekend with interest in the bluefish tournament and a fresh wave of big blues to make things extra interesting. The shop weighed a 16-pound bluefish about a month ago and hadn’t heard of one that big since, at least, until this weekend. They weighed several fish in the 15- to 16-pound range for the tournament marking a major upgrade to the size class of the bluefish around in the region. Striper fishing is still very good, mostly on the deep reefs. Fishing at night with live or plastic eels has been the ticket to tangling with bass in the 30-pound plus class. There is some topwater action as well at first light. Fluke fishing seemed to tick up this week with a few more customers reporting keeper sized flatfish. They are catching them anywhere from 12- to 40-feet of water, but lately it seems the bigger fish are coming from the shallower end of that range. Scup fishing has been good for both boat and shore anglers though those fishing from the rocks seem to be catching the biggest porgies. There are short sea bass mixed in with the scup but coming by a keeper sized fish has been a chore. There are some snapper blues starting to show in the estuaries, harbors and bays though they are still very small. Blue crabs are being caught as well in the estuaries and scooped from pilings in the harbors. The shop is open six days a week closed Mondays.